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Thread ID: 12986	2001-11-18 00:57:00	LinuxMy problem with the linux download was	Guest (0)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
24799	2001-11-18 00:57:00	My problem with the linux download was cause i downloaded it as a text file not as a package: NOW. It is in my home dir as a package and i open my terminal, type in su then enter then my password and get the line Root etc. I then go to my package and click install; I now get the error message,you must be root to carry out this operation.(I really thought I was) where am i going wrong? I have to say here that I am 63 and have been around puters since about the late 70s with Lotus 123 and then windows and have always found it easy to ask for help and then get a step by step answer from someone.Why is it with linux that i get different answers from different people to the same question?COULD someone take me step by step through installing a package.I am determined to get on top of linux.	Guest (0)
24800	2001-11-18 03:02:00	You will see that there are different answers from different people to questions on other OSs, too. OK, both the answers you got were the same; but different. I suggested 'find' which runs in a terminal window; there is a search tool in the GUIs. But I would hope that no application would put files in a directory called e.g. '.netscape' -- such 'dot' directories are 'invisible', and not meant to be used for user data. Now for installing packages. The root privilege problem is that you did 'su' in a terminal session, then used the GUI install. This is a multiuser system. Your original session, which owns the GUI, still had only user privilege. You could try the GUI install, without doing the 'su' in another session. The GUI should then ask for the root password. It may not allow having two root users at the same time. This would be a logical security precaution, and if it detects a security breach attempt, it will just ignore you .. to avoid giving information to a cracker. What sort of package: RPM, tarball, whatever? Here is a step by step for RPM or tarball: I prefer to install anything in a terminal session ; not in any GUI. RPM: If the package is (e.g.) 'blah.2-5.i386.rpm', you can do the whole thing in the terminal window: 'su', password, then 'rpm -ivvh blah*.rpm'. You can get away with the wildcard by typing just use the unique part of the name, then '*.rpm'. the '-i' means install, the 'vv' means very verbosely, the 'h' prints a '#' every so often in the process. Tarball: If it is blah.2.3.4-2.tgz, or 'blah.etc..tar.gz', it is not quite so easy. The usual will be, in a terminal window, 'tar -xzvf blah*.tgz' (or '.tar.gz'), and this will create a directory under your home directory. You then look at all the files called INSTALL, README, etc. The isntructions are usually pretty good, but they assume some knowlege of the system. Which you gain by using it, and making mistakes. And reading everything. It is not easy. There are lots of books around, and one 200 page Linux book has more information than 5 or 10 1000 page Windows books. Read the HOWTO files on your system. Find the online stuff in the Linux Documentation Project (the LDP). There are whole free books online.	Guest (0)
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